Fan housing level holding structure



Get. 15, 1968 T. P. JORDAN ETAL 3,405,894

FAN HOUSING LEVEL HOLDING STRUCTURE Filed July 31, 1967 INVENTOR.TRUEMAN 7? JORDAN DON m wee VERETT D. WISEMAIV Mam ATTORNEY UnitedStates Patent 3,405,894 FAN HOUSING LEVEL HOLDING STRUCTURE Trueman P.Jordan, Don W. Weed, and Everett 1). Wiseman, Columbus, Ind., assignorsto Vernco Corporation, Columbus, Ind.

Filed July 31, 1967, Ser. No. 657,351 7 Claims. (Cl. 248-13) ABSTRACT OFTHE DISCLOSURE A fan housing supporting stand comprising a pair ofupstanding, parallel standards having a plurality of pairs of slotstherein along common sides of the standards; each pair comprising twoslots in one standard and two like slots in the other standard at commonrespective elevations; a pair of bolts, one each engaging opposite sidesof the housing; a plate carried by each bolt conforming to thecircumferential shape of the standards, abutting opposing sides of thestandards, and extending therearound a distance to receive upper andlower hooks engaging over bottom margins of two slots in each pair ofeach standard.

This invention relates to a structure for carrying a fan housing atvariably selected elevations. A primary object of the invention is toprovide means for not only supporting the housing but to insure thepositioning and the retaining of the housing in level positions at eachof selected elevations.

A further primary object of the invention is to permit the housing to bereadily attached to a stand and to be shifted readily from elevation toelevation in the absence of having to remove and return supporting boltsand yet permit rocking of the housing on a mounting axis whereby theflow of air from a fan in the housing can be variably angularly directedupwardly and downwardly.

A further primary object is to provide a fan housing support which willbe sung fitting in its several parts to prevent vibration and rattle.

Primarily, the invention involves the combination of a pair of upwardlyextending standards between which the fan housing is carried by abracket resiliently attached to each of opposite sides of the housingand directed toward opposing sides of the standards, and there are apair of spaced apart hooks extending from each bracket to enterdetachably slots up and down the standards in common elevation zones.

The invention is embodied in the structure illustrated in theaccompanying drawing, in which FIG. 1 is a front elevational view inpartial section;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view;

FIG. 3 is a view in horizontal section on the line 33 in FIG. 4 on anenlarged scale;

FIG. 4 is a detail in partial section in vertical elevation of a plateengagement with a standard; and

FIG. 5 is a view in top perspective and partial section of a modifiedform of bracket adjacent a post and on a reduced scale.

A frame 10, generally inverted U-shaped, comprises a pair of upwardlyextending tubular standards 13 integrally interconnected at the upperends by a transverse bar. The lower ends of the standards 13 merge intoa base 11 which may be of any suitable construction not per se enteringinto the invention other than being designed to support and resisttendency of the standards 13 against rocking over. The standards 13 mayextend upwardly at any desired angle but are herein shown as beingvertically positioned.

A conventional fan housing 12 of any shape having opposite sides isherein shown as being rectangular with sides 18. A bolt 16 enters by athreaded end through each of these sides at positions equidistant fromthe housing top or bottom. A nut 19 screw-threadedly engages the boltfrom within the housing 12, FIGS. 1 and 3. A resilient washer 17surrounds the bolt 16 between the housing side 18 and a bracket 14carried by the bolt 16 having in the present construction an arm 15constituting a bolt head.

The bracket 14 has a form which fits substantially ninety degrees arounda standard 13, from the plate 15 and terminates in spaced apart upperand lower hoods 20 and 21, FIGS. 3 and 4, both being directed downwardlyin substantial parallelism with the arm 15. These plates will be made inright and left forms in respect to the hooks 20 and 21.

The housing 12 will be entered between the two standards 13 by bringingthe plate 15 therebetween and then to engage around the standards 13 andpresent the hooks 20 and 21 in slots 22 on the standards locatedapproximately ninety degrees therearound from the initial contact of thearms 15. These slots 20 are of sufiicient height to permit the hooks 20and 21 to pass simultaneously therethrough and drop downwardly to engageover the bottom margins of the two slots, FIG. 4. The hooks 20 and 21are made to engage over those margins and the inside faces of thetubular standards 13 to hold the brackets 14 snugly against the outersides of the standards 13 without vibration under fan operation and thusavoid rattling or the like.

The slots 22 are spaced to have one slot in one standard 13 at the sameelevation as a slot on the other standard 13, thereby forming pairs ofslots, and the hooks 20 and 21 are spaced apart on each bracket 14 thedistances of adjacent slots, a pair of slots being required for eachbracket pairs of hooks 20 and 21. The distance of the spacing apart ofslots and hooks insures that the fan housing is always supported in alevel position regardless of how low or high the engagement of thebrackets are with the standards since the brackets 14 cannot be cockedin standard engagement.

The housing 12 can be rotatably adjusted about the common axes of thetwo bolts 16 and be frictionally retained in the desired rotatedposition by tightening the nuts 19 on the bolts which tends to compressthe resilient Washer 17, the standards 13 being sufiiciently resilientto follow the pull thereon laterally by the hooks 20 and 21, therebycompressively holding the standards 13 against the brackets 14.

The nuts 19 require normally no further adjusting upon changing theelevation of the housing in respect to the standards. The arms 15 serveas guides in reentering the housing 12 and brackets between thestandards.

The brackets 14 may take another form as is illustrated in FIG. 5. Thismodified form is generally designated by the numeral 25. A flange 26 hasa hole 27 through which a bolt 16 will extend with a head 17 limitingpassage therethrough. This bolt 16' extends through the resilient washer17 and the fan housing side 18 to receive the nut 19 as in FIG. 3. Thebracket 25 will have a pair of vertically spaced apart hooks 21extending from the flange 26 and are turned downwardly.

The standards 13 will have the same vertically spaced slots 22, butthese slots will be rotated ninety degrees, FIG. 5, to have the slots inone standard directly opposite the slots in the other standard in orderthat the hooks 21' may be entered into the slots 22 and allowed to dropdownwardly and engage over the lips 23 at the bottoms of the slots. Thehooks 21' may be urged laterally against the sides of the slots 22adjacent the fan housing sides by tightening the nuts 19.

While we have herein shown and described our invention in the formsillustrated, it is obvious that structural modifications may be madewithout departing from the J i s spirit of the invention and wethereforeiflo :not desire to be limited thereto beyond limitations whichmay be required by the following "claims.

We claim: 1. For a fan housing support, the combination with a housing;of

a pair of approximately parallel standards, one on each of tWo oppositesides of said housing; a bolt extending from each of said two housingsides toward said standards; a member carried on the end-of each of saidbolts adjacent said standards;

a pair of spaced apart, downturned hooks extending from each of saidmembers toward said standards; a plurality of hook engaging elementscarried by'and longitudinally spaced along each standard and over 'apair of which elements said hooks engage; and means carried by each ofsaid bolts resiliently selectively spacing said members from saidhousing sides. 2. The structure of claim 1, in which said standards aretubular; and said hook engaging element isthe lower edge of a slot ineach instance through the wall of the standard. 3. The structure ofclaim. 2, in which there is means holding said standards againstradialrotation. v

4. The structure of claim 1,.in which there is a portion of each ofsaidmembers'eiftending between opposing sides of said standards.

5. The structure of claim 3, in which said' li'olding means comprises abar also maintaining a fixed spacing between ends of the standards.

6. The structure of claim 2, in which said spacing means comprises aresilient tubular member and said housing side; I 7 said bolt passesthrough said housing side to the interior of the housing; and 1 a nutscrew-threadedly engages the. end of the bolt within the housing to bearagainst the housing and squeezes said tubular member and to draw saidhooks against sides of said slots.

7. The. structure of claim 1, in which said members extendcircumferentially around portions of said standards.

References Cited I UNITED STATES PATENTS I 1,743,987 1/1930 Tinaglia'248l37 XR 2,795,388 6/1957 Myers 248122 2,813,693 11/1957 Puddicornbeet al. '24814l 2,830,779 4/1958 Wentling 248-43 3,121,548 2/1964 McLean248-l3 JOHN PETO, Prima/y Examiner.

